Date: May 17th 2023

Time: 2PM-4PM

Location: Césure (Paris I University Campus), 13 rue Santeuil, 75005, Paris. Room 375 3rd Floor

First Presentation:

Pierre-Olivier Goffard

(Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and University of Strasbourg)

Pierre-Olivier Goffard

Stochastic Models for Blockchain Analysis

Abstract:

My talk discusses simple models to study the consensus protocols at the heart of blockchain systems. An overview of blockchain and consensus algorithms is provided before examining simple models for evaluating the efficiency, security, and decentralization of blockchain systems based on two famous protocols, namely proof-of-work and proof of stake.

Second Presentation:

Xiaotong Sun

(Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow)

Xiaotong Sun

Voter Coalitions and Democracy in Decentralized Finance: Evidence from MakerDAO

Abstract:

Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) provides a decentralized governance solution through blockchain, where decision-making process relies on on-chain voting and follows majority rule. This paper focuses on MakerDAO, and we find five voter coalitions after applying clustering algorithm to voting history. The emergence of a dominant voter coalition is a signal of governance centralization in DAO, and voter coalitions have complicated influence on Maker protocol, which is governed by MakerDAO. This paper presents empirical evidence of multicoalition democracy in DAO and further contributes to the contemporary debate on whether decentralized governance is possible.